Secretary of State Bill Gardner says his deepening concern about an erosion of voter confidence in the integrity of elections across the country prompted him to agree to become a member of President Donald Trump’s new Commission on Election Integrity.
“There is a reason I’m doing this,” he told WMUR in an interview on Friday. “I care a lot about this. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with it, and it’s too bad that over half of the people in the country feel that there is vote fraud. Let’s find out why.”
To those who say Trump created the panel to find a way to justify his unsubstantiated claims that “millions of people voted illegally” in November, Gardner said, “Give it a chance. Maybe we’ll be able to solve that question of why so many people believe there is voter fraud.”
The 16-member commission has been charged with issuing a report that identifies laws, policies and practices that enhance public confidence in federal elections, as well as laws, policies and strategies that undermine public confidence.
It will also report on “vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.” The commission was created by an executive order signed by Trump on Thursday.
Gardner is the longest-serving state election official in the nation and has garnered respect not only in New Hampshire, but also nationally. Since 1976, the unassuming Manchester man, who is a registered Democrat, has been elected secretary of state 21 times by state legislatures. Most of those legislatures had Republican majorities.
Gardner is widely known for his relentless defense of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
Why, then, would Gardner want to serve on a panel that has been criticized as nothing more than a political tool to justify Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that between 3 million and 5 million people voted illegally in the November general election?
And why would Gardner serve when Trump twice singled out New Hampshire in his criticisms, claiming in February that he and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte lost the state because thousands of Massachusetts residents were “brought in on buses” to vote illegally in the Granite State?
Gardner said months ago that Trump’s claim of widespread voter fraud in the state was untrue, although he has also said there has been at least one voter fraud conviction in New Hampshire in every election since 1992.
Gardner said he decided to accept the invitation to serve on the commission because he worries that nationally, voter confidence in elections is low. He pointed to a Gallup poll conducted prior to the November election that found 55 percent of Americans believe voter fraud exists.
He said turnout records and polling have shown that “if the confidence in the process, including that it’s fair and honest, is at a high level, you get higher turnout,” he said.
But, he said, the 2016 election “was the first presidential election that was below 50 percent in terms of confidence in the election.”
Gardner is not a fan of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to allow people to register to vote when they apply for or renew drivers’ licenses or seek public assistance.
He said that after the law was passed in 1993, he presented Congress with a report “on why it would hurt elections in this country. And the first presidential election after that, the country had a turnout lower than in 1992.”
New Hampshire received a waiver from the law and was required to institute election day registration. The state also has a photo ID requirement.
“Our turnout has been increasing and it has increased in the two presidential elections that we’ve had photo ID,” he said. “There had been a lot of talk that it would hurt turnout, but it certainly didn’t hurt it here.”
“If you take what the American people have been saying based on reputable national polling firms, how are we going to solve that problem? You have to understand the problem, but how do you understand it? This is part of what we need to do if we’re going to have a solution to this.”
“They’re calling it a voter fraud commission,” he said. “But it’s an election integrity commission. What provides confidence for the voters is that they believe their votes will be counted and matter and have value.”
But he also said he does not want to suppress voting.
“There’s a line there and I don’t want to go too far in one direction or the other direction. And you want people to believe their vote will be counted accurately and it’s an honest process,” Gardner said.
Shaheen skeptical of commission
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Friday criticized Trump's creation of the commission.
“’It’s an effort by President Trump to try and justify his claim that there was significant voter fraud in the election, and that’s why Hillary Clinton got more votes," she said in an interview.
“I think it’s time to put that behind him and work on the process of governing this country,” she said.
Regarding Gardner's membership on the commission, Shaheen said, "Bill Gardner has done a great job as secretary of state here, and he pointed out last year when there were allegations that voter fraud happened in New Hampshire that there wasn’t any.
“I’m sure he’ll serve and do a good job and continue to point out that, just because you want it to be so doesn’t mean that voter fraud occurred.”
Gardner: Three past offers declined
Gardner said he received a call about the Trump commission “maybe a month and a half ago” from a staffer in the office of Vice President Mike Pence, who is the commission chairman.
He said he expressed interest but then heard nothing until about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when he was driving to Canada on a personal matter.
Gardner also revealed for the first time that he was asked by three previous administrations to serve on key panels – two of them focusing on elections and one on securities, which is another issue handled by his office.
He said that circa 1989-1990, former Gov. John H. Sununu, who was then the White House chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush, asked him to serve on the Federal Election Commission. But he declined because, he said, “It’s not a position that fits me. I’m not aspiring to anything. This is where I want to be.”
When George W. Bush was president, Gardner said he was asked to serve on the Election Assistance Commission, an independent federal agency charged with helping states meet the requirements of the Help America Vote Act. Gardner said he declined because he felt the agency “is a waste of money.”
Former President Bill Clinton asked him to serve in a post related to the Securities and Exchange Commission, he said.

CONCORD, N.H. —

Secretary of State Bill Gardner says his deepening concern about an erosion of voter confidence in the integrity of elections across the country prompted him to agree to become a member of President Donald Trump’s new Commission on Election Integrity.

“There is a reason I’m doing this,” he told WMUR in an interview on Friday. “I care a lot about this. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with it, and it’s too bad that over half of the people in the country feel that there is vote fraud. Let’s find out why.”

To those who say Trump created the panel to find a way to justify his unsubstantiated claims that “millions of people voted illegally” in November, Gardner said, “Give it a chance. Maybe we’ll be able to solve that question of why so many people believe there is voter fraud.”

The 16-member commission has been charged with issuing a report that identifies laws, policies and practices that enhance public confidence in federal elections, as well as laws, policies and strategies that undermine public confidence.

It will also report on “vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.” The commission was created by an executive order signed by Trump on Thursday.

Gardner is the longest-serving state election official in the nation and has garnered respect not only in New Hampshire, but also nationally. Since 1976, the unassuming Manchester man, who is a registered Democrat, has been elected secretary of state 21 times by state legislatures. Most of those legislatures had Republican majorities.

Gardner is widely known for his relentless defense of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

Why, then, would Gardner want to serve on a panel that has been criticized as nothing more than a political tool to justify Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that between 3 million and 5 million people voted illegally in the November general election?

And why would Gardner serve when Trump twice singled out New Hampshire in his criticisms, claiming in February that he and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte lost the state because thousands of Massachusetts residents were “brought in on buses” to vote illegally in the Granite State?

Gardner said months ago that Trump’s claim of widespread voter fraud in the state was untrue, although he has also said there has been at least one voter fraud conviction in New Hampshire in every election since 1992.

Gardner said he decided to accept the invitation to serve on the commission because he worries that nationally, voter confidence in elections is low. He pointed to a Gallup poll conducted prior to the November election that found 55 percent of Americans believe voter fraud exists.

He said turnout records and polling have shown that “if the confidence in the process, including that it’s fair and honest, is at a high level, you get higher turnout,” he said.

But, he said, the 2016 election “was the first presidential election that was below 50 percent in terms of confidence in the election.”

Gardner is not a fan of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to allow people to register to vote when they apply for or renew drivers’ licenses or seek public assistance.

He said that after the law was passed in 1993, he presented Congress with a report “on why it would hurt elections in this country. And the first presidential election after that, the country had a turnout lower than in 1992.”

New Hampshire received a waiver from the law and was required to institute election day registration. The state also has a photo ID requirement.

“Our turnout has been increasing and it has increased in the two presidential elections that we’ve had photo ID,” he said. “There had been a lot of talk that it would hurt turnout, but it certainly didn’t hurt it here.”

“If you take what the American people have been saying based on reputable national polling firms, how are we going to solve that problem? You have to understand the problem, but how do you understand it? This is part of what we need to do if we’re going to have a solution to this.”

“They’re calling it a voter fraud commission,” he said. “But it’s an election integrity commission. What provides confidence for the voters is that they believe their votes will be counted and matter and have value.”

But he also said he does not want to suppress voting.

“There’s a line there and I don’t want to go too far in one direction or the other direction. And you want people to believe their vote will be counted accurately and it’s an honest process,” Gardner said.

“’It’s an effort by President Trump to try and justify his claim that there was significant voter fraud in the election, and that’s why Hillary Clinton got more votes," she said in an interview.

“I think it’s time to put that behind him and work on the process of governing this country,” she said.

Regarding Gardner's membership on the commission, Shaheen said, "Bill Gardner has done a great job as secretary of state here, and he pointed out last year when there were allegations that voter fraud happened in New Hampshire that there wasn’t any.

“I’m sure he’ll serve and do a good job and continue to point out that, just because you want it to be so doesn’t mean that voter fraud occurred.”

Gardner: Three past offers declined

Gardner said he received a call about the Trump commission “maybe a month and a half ago” from a staffer in the office of Vice President Mike Pence, who is the commission chairman.

He said he expressed interest but then heard nothing until about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when he was driving to Canada on a personal matter.

Gardner also revealed for the first time that he was asked by three previous administrations to serve on key panels – two of them focusing on elections and one on securities, which is another issue handled by his office.

He said that circa 1989-1990, former Gov. John H. Sununu, who was then the White House chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush, asked him to serve on the Federal Election Commission. But he declined because, he said, “It’s not a position that fits me. I’m not aspiring to anything. This is where I want to be.”

When George W. Bush was president, Gardner said he was asked to serve on the Election Assistance Commission, an independent federal agency charged with helping states meet the requirements of the Help America Vote Act. Gardner said he declined because he felt the agency “is a waste of money.”

Former President Bill Clinton asked him to serve in a post related to the Securities and Exchange Commission, he said.